


no hard feelings (some soft ones though)

by esmeraldablazingsky



Category: Naruto
Genre: Emotions, Forgiveness, after the kimimaro fight, can be read as shipping or nah, gaara and lee being friends I guess, i was so tired while writing this sorry, sand
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2017-05-25
Packaged: 2018-11-04 23:36:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11001357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esmeraldablazingsky/pseuds/esmeraldablazingsky
Summary: Lee has no hard feelings towards Gaara.





	no hard feelings (some soft ones though)

The forest of bones looms in the background as Gaara and Lee rest on the edge of the trees, silent and exhausted. They don't look at each other, not really, but their breathing is in sync and the sound of the wind in the leaves is deafening in the shivery haze of the fading heat of battle. Moments replay themselves over and over in Lee's head- the shock as Gaara had arrived on the battlefield, the sense of horrified déjà vu as the sand had taken hold of Lee's leg, the sudden jolt of adrenaline as Kimimaro's voice had echoed from all around, sharp and painful as the bones it came from. Lee shakes his head to dispel the sensation of Gaara's sand wrapping itself around Lee's ankle, pulling and crushing and- 

"When I used the sand to pull you back," begins Gaara, then stops. 

"What is it?" asks Lee. The memory is still fresh in his mind and he wonders if Gaara can tell. 

"Are you hurt," says Gaara flatly after a pause. 

"No," Lee reassures him. He's still beat up and bleeding from his hand, but it's not what Gaara is asking. Gaara nods approvingly. 

"Good," he says. There's something like relief in his voice. "It was not my intention to hurt you." His unsaid apology hangs in the air like a dark cloud, sticking to Lee's skin. A heavy silence falls and Gaara doesn't meet Lee's curious gaze- it's like he's avoiding some sort of wordless judgement. It's like he's afraid. 

"I harbor no hard feelings towards you," says Lee, and regrets it the moment the words leave his mouth. It's too formal, too stilted, and it sounds insincere. Uncomfortable. He watches as something shutters closed behind Gaara's eyes, and wishes he could say it over again. 

"No hard feelings," repeats Gaara. His slim shoulders draw up slightly around him, like he's retreating into his ultimate defense- not a shell of sand, nearly unbreakable, but an emotional distance that's more unbreakable still. It's something that Lee can't bear to watch. 

"I- I mean," he stammers, stumbling in his haste, "I mean I- I'm not angry with you at all or anything. It's okay, I'm okay, and-" 

"You're so naive," says Gaara, his soft voice cutting through Lee's effortlessly. The words aren't barbed or insulting- it's simply an observation. The expression in Gaara's eyes is anything but disapproving. Lee falls silent, waiting for Gaara to continue. He doesn't speak immediately, opting instead to turn and look Lee in the eyes- a small gesture, but one that leaves him infinitely more open, more vulnerable. It's as if Lee can see into his heart, as if he's offering his own trust in exchange for Lee's forgiveness. 

"That may be," says Lee after a few seconds of quiet. "I cannot say that I know the world and what it can be like." Gaara nods, his eyes unfocused and far away. Something like a smile plays at his lips as a cool breeze sweeps out of the forest, ruffling Lee's hair and making him shiver. It's so quiet, so surreal, the stark contrast of Gaara's red hair against the bleached white field of razor-sharp bones turning the scene into something from a long-ago dream. The vague smile tugging at the corners of Gaara's mouth shifts and reaches his eyes, sparkling in their blue-green depths and pulling irresistibly at Lee's heart- he feels warm and safe and at peace, and it's strange, but Lee wouldn't give the feeling up for the world. It makes him want to spend eternity on the edge of a forest, on the edge of an emotion he doesn't know how to describe. 

"We should get you back to Konoha sometime soon," suggests Gaara. His words are little more than a murmur among the whispering voices of the trees. Lee nods, torn between happiness and regret and sorrow for the death of the moment they had shared, silently and briefly in the wake of a battle. 

"Okay," he agrees. It won't end here, he knows, or he hopes, or he wishes. 

"I will make sure you don't get hurt," says Gaara, standing up in a fluid motion that turns Lee to jelly. 

"I can take care of myself," says Lee, mildly insulted (but not really.) 

"Let me do it," says Gaara. He offers Lee his shoulder to lean on and Lee takes it, not because he needs to but because he wants to. Gaara is warm and surprisingly solid, and the fabric of his sleeves is soft, and Lee could just lose himself in the sensation forever, but he doesn't. Instead, he loses himself in the way Gaara's voice sounds as he starts to speak- about his siblings, his village, his dreams. He loses himself in the friendship forged in battle and in peace- it won't end here, he is certain now. 

There are no hard feelings between the two of them, only soft ones- a wordless sort of understanding, and a gentle companionship that transcends the past and tints the future gold. Lee can live with that, he thinks. (It won't end here, he knows in the depths of his soul. It won't end here.) So he lets Gaara rest his hand lightly on his waist, and he doesn't say a word. He doesn't have to. 

 

~end~

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this and I am so tired please leave comments it would make me super happy anyway have a nice day I guess


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